


The queen of decay

by UpInOrbit



Series: 50 word prompts [1]
Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Demon Hunters, Demons, F/F, Friends to Enemies, Set in a church
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26108776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpInOrbit/pseuds/UpInOrbit
Summary: "What will you do, little hunter? Will you kill the demon and sit on your throne, knowing what lays at your feet, and the blood that coats it, or will you let me out, take your mortal enemy’s hand and bring down everything your kin has worked for, for centuries?”Her coronation was supposed to be a happy day. It was never supposed to be about Sua confronting someone she considered a friend, and turned out to be a powerful demon
Relationships: Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Siyeon
Series: 50 word prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920427
Comments: 11
Kudos: 28





	The queen of decay

**Author's Note:**

> I have to say I was not expecting to be posting anything today, and even less this because I've been low on inspiration for a while, but I took on a [challenge](https://twitter.com/starryjinsouls/status/1297985117772808192?s=20) (today's word "light") and it really helped so, I hope you like this!!  
> This is more like a (really long) drabble, but I had so much fun writing it, so I hope you guys do too when you read it!  
> Also, while you're here!! Remember to stream [Boca](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ4JGye4dQU&feature=youtu.be) for our girls!

As the coronation goes on around her, Sua finds herself unable to pay attention to it. It should be a happy day, a glorious day, but instead, fear grips her heart and won’t let it go, and she can feel the weight of hundreds of eyes staring at her, dissecting her, tearing her apart like she were some animal under a microscope. 

The light above her is almost blinding, and the darkness that covers the church’s nave makes her feel utterly alone, even is she knows she isn’t. Her every move is done on autopilot, her brain moving without her thinking about it, and that might be a small blessing in itself. 

Queens are supposed to be regal, but Sua is afraid she’s never been further apart from that ideal than she is now.

The ceremonial sword is heavy in her hand, and she fears she’ll drop it, shattering the illusion and leaving her naked in front of hundreds. Sua knows they would all see the truth, then, and would not take it kindly upon them.

Kindness is a gift from God, they told them when they were kids. But it was not a gift suited for hunters, for kindness makes you weak, and kindness gets you killed. Those who are kind are easy prey for the demons, and so kindness must be eradicated.

Maybe it was then when cruelty put down roots in them, for where there is no kindness, there is something else, something darker.

But that sounds too much like heresy, and Sua knows better. The words under her tongue taste like ashes, leaving the bitter taste of lies in her mouth, and suddenly she’s glad she’s not required to speak in the ceremony, because she knows the moment she opened her mouth she’d damn herself, unable to stop speaking until it was too late.

“…It is such a shame that our old king left us so soon, but we must continue,” she hears then, the first words she’s been able to decipher ever since she set foot in the church, and feels dread crawling up her spine, knowing what comes next. “His death was avenged by our sister Sua, and so her rule shall start with the most auspicious of signs…”

The priest moves, arms extended at his sides, and a crown, previously hidden by his body, is visible.

It sits on the altar, a golden thing sitting on a cushion of red velvet, and Sua closes her eyes, fingers gripping the sword so hard she feels the wound on her palm slicing open again.

***

_Five hours earlier_

The church is empty, everyone busy with the incoming coronation, and so there’s no one around to see Sua slip inside.

Most of the church’s naves and transept are in darkness, save for the odd ray of sunlight that sneaks in through the stained glass windows that stand high above the church benches. It was a conscious decision back when it was built, Sua knows that. It was done to leave the brunt of them in darkness, an anonymous, unstoppable sea of hunters with one goal, to chase only after the light. 

The light was reserved for the altar and aspen, that light which the hunters should pursuit, never stopping until they reached it. It filled the front of the church for both a mystical and a practical reason: there is no point in ending a high ranked demon in front of hundreds if no one will see, after all.

There’s an irony there, Sua guesses as she makes her way through the nave, that the highest-ranking demon they’ve ever encountered slipped through their ranks, unnoticed, and is waiting for her reclined on the altar, eyes closed, without a care in the world.

Light unveils all secrets, but this one decided to stand under the light willingly, to mock them for their failure. 

Maybe it’s what they deserve, for being blind and deaf and mute, praising themselves even as they turned their backs to the world.

Still, she comes closer to the altar, stopping shy of stepping into the pool of light. She hasn’t made a sound, her training kicking in as soon as she approached the church, but, even with her eyes closed, Siyeon smiles knowingly. Her red dress shines like newly spilt blood against the gold behind her, the golden circlet around her forehead a taunt directed at Sua.

“Took you long enough,” she drawls before arching her back like a cat, lazily standing up to look straight at Sua. The latter refuses to acknowledge her words, refuses to engage in conversation with the demon.

_You were friends once_ , her traitorous heart whispers.

_She is a demon, and all demons are liars. All her promises were fake_ , her brain supplies instead.

“I’m here to kill you,” Sua says, with as much conviction as she can muster. Her voice wavers ever so slightly, but Sua knows demons are predators, and Siyeon must have heard it, will use it to take her apart.

Siyeon merely raises her eyebrows, expression turning into one of amusement.

“No, you’re not,” she replies, a knowing smile on her lips. “If you were, I’d already be dead. If you were, you wouldn’t be here alone.”

“I’m more than enough to take you down,” Sua unsheathes her sword, as if to prove her point.

“Oh, you are, but after what you saw earlier, what you’ve suspected for a while?” Siyeon said, making a ‘tsking’ sound with her tongue. “I don’t think you will.”

“You’re wrong,” Sua denied.

“Oh, am I now? Don’t be a fool, little hunter. You Order, that one you’ve fought and bled, and almost died for, is corrupt, Sua. You know that. You would have asked for reinforcements if you still believed in them, if you weren’t afraid of who might come and side with me,” Siyeon’s eyes seem darker than usual, dark voids that suck in the light around her and command all looks to her face. “I’ve been one of you for years, and you think no one noticed it? I never tried to hide it, so of course they did. They just didn’t _care_ enough, not when they could profit of the situation.”

_I never noticed_ , she wants to say, but at the same time, she knows she won’t like the answer. She knows that, no matter what she says, what leaves Siyeon’s lips will rip her apart. 

The questions pill up and she swallows them down, pushes them to the darkest corner of her mind, where she knows they’ll only come back to plague her in her nightmares.

“Stop with the games, Siyeon,” she orders, tired of all the talking. “Just say whatever you have to say and let’s end this.”

Siyeon leans back against the altar, a satisfied look in her eyes, and Sua knows she’s somehow walked right into her trap.

“Let’s end this, little hunter. The way I see it, you only have two options: fight me and win, kill a big, bad demon before your coronation; or fight me and lose. Either way, someone will die. Unless…,” she says, tapping at her lower lip with a finger, as if she were deep in thought. “Unless you didn’t fight me. Unless you let me walk out of here, unharmed, and then, maybe, you’d have a big, bad demon by your side.”

“Why would I ever do that?” Sua takes a step back before she can control herself, not expecting to hear that.

“Don’t you see it yet, Sua? They chose you because you’re gullible. Because as good a hunter as you might be, you’re kind, and ‘kindness is a weakness’,” Siyeon quotes the words that were drilled into every hunter’s brain and spits them out almost mockingly. “You classify the world in neat little boxes, and don’t want to believe your precious Order is as bad as we are, or even worse. We don’t pretend to be what we’re not, after all. You’ll be their leader because you want to believe in their goodness, and won’t try to stop them. They’ll do as they please under your nose, separate you from everyone else and, when you stop being useful, they’ll kill you, just as they did with your predecessor.”

Sua breathes in deeply, holds the air down for three seconds, then releases it. She repeats it until she can feel her fingers no longer choking the pommel of her sword, and the blood finally rushing through them. She loosens her fingers one by one, and revels in the moon-shaped sting they have left behind.

“You’re a demon. Why would you help me?” Sua asks through clenched teeth. 

Something like understanding colouring Siyeon’s face and she stays silent at first, before she tips her head back and laughs, a sound that belongs to angels, one that shouldn’t come from the lips of a demon.

“Oh, honey. You still don’t understand, do you?” She leans forward, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. “I want to help you, _because_ I’m a demon. Sometimes, I just want to see the world burn,” she admits, a glint in her eye that freezes Sua’s blood in her veins. There’s a hunger there that can’t be satiated, enhanced by the lights and shadows playing on her face, and Sua knows that, if given the opportunity, Siyeon herself would set the world on fire. “You are the first row tickets to that,” she continues, a soft smile on her lips, so at odds with the ravenous look in her eyes that Sua takes a step back. “What will you do, little hunter? Will you kill the demon and sit on your throne, knowing what lays at your feet, and the blood that coats it, or will you let me out, take your mortal enemy’s hand and bring down everything your kin has worked for, for centuries?” 

“No,” Sua whispers, her throat parched. She thinks her hand might be shaking, but then she looks down and sees it’s her whole body that’s shaking.

“No?” Cocking her head to the side, Siyeon repeats, her words almost gentle before she pushes herself off the altar and bridges the distance between them in two steps, dark eyes never leaving Sua’s face. “You must choose, little hunter,” she sing-songs, her voice echoing in the empty church. Sua closes her eyes, gripping her sword harder, so much it hurts. She feels, rather than sees, Siyeon start to prowl around her. “What will it be? The loathing of everyone you’ve ever known, ever loved, or to watch that which you’ve worked so hard for rot in front of your eyes, and hate yourself knowing you could have done something to prevent it?”

Siyeon comes to a stop in front of her, arms extended by her side. A stray ray of sunlight falls on her face, highlights the blood-red of her lips, the midnight blue of her hair, makes her look untouchable, unattainable. It makes Sua itch for a brush to paint, immortalize that which she knows not many have ever seen. Siyeon is a goddess before her subjects, judge, jury and executioner, and Sua is on trial, bound under her spell, unable to run away. 

She doesn’t know if she would, even if she could.

“I can’t—,” she tries to say, but her throat won’t cooperate.

Her brain and heart are fighting each other, and Sua’s body is the battlefield, the one that will bear the scars, one that will never fade. She feels like she’s being ripped into pieces, so tiny there will never be any hope of putting her back together again.

“Of course you can,” Siyeon all but purrs in response. “You and I both know you already have your answer.

“I don’t,” Sua manages to get out, her voice breaking as she speaks.

“Don’t be such a liar, you do know!” Siyeon’s eyes light up in childish glee as she comes even closer. Sua freezes, her fingers stiff around the sword’s handle, not even breathing as Siyeon leans in, invading her space to bring her lips to Sua’s ear, “because you are—,” Sua’s heart beats in her chest, thunderous, louder even than the chiming of the bells, loud enough to drown Siyeon’s words.

The church is empty, everyone busy with the incoming coronation, and so there’s no one around to hear Sua break.

***

Sua looks up when the speech starts to come to an end, eyes roaming around the room. She catches it then, a glimpse of red turning around the corner, dark eyes staring straight at her. 

Siyeon’s lips curve into a smile, and Sua finds her attention veering even further away from the ceremony, all of her focus narrowing on Siyeon. She barely notices the crown being placed on her head, unable as she is to tear her eyes away from Siyeon, and she swears she can almost hear the words the other mouths, a title that wraps itself around her shoulders, like chains weighing her down, invisible to the naked eye.

The queen of decay, she who sold her soul to a devil.

Around her, everyone claps for their queen.

**Author's Note:**

> Are you wondering why there's a queen in an order of demon hunters? Well, that makes two of us  
> Honestly, this was written almost in a daze, I didn't even know what I wanted to do until I did it, and so it might be a little confusing but I hope it was at least enjoyable :D I might honestly come back to this universe because I have enjoyed this a lot and I think it could be really cool to flesh it out a little more, so let me know what you think!  
> Comments and kudos warm my heart <33
> 
> [tw](https://twitter.com/starryjinsouls) || [cc](https://curiouscat.me/Val_99)
> 
> \- Val


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